Description

NAL/AF is seeking its inaugural Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) to build and lead a unified vision for the organization’s Development and Communications Teams with the goals of long-term sustainability, revenue growth, brand awareness, and visibility. As a member of the executive leadership team in this newly created position, the CAO partners with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), and Chief Program Officer (CPO) to strengthen organizational infrastructure, culture, and performance in service of the mission.

The CAO leads an integrated advancement function encompassing development and communications strategy, ensuring that revenue generation and external messaging are aligned, compelling, and compliant across both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entities. This role is central to translating organizational impact into sustainable funding, stewarding a clear and values-aligned public narrative, and building strong relationships with donors, board members, partners, and other stakeholders.

In this role, the CAO will design and execute an ambitious, diversified revenue strategy; cultivate a strong culture of philanthropy across the organization and board; and provide executive oversight of communications to ensure consistent storytelling that advances impact, engagement, and long-term sustainability.

The ideal candidate is both strategic and creative, with the ability to lead cross-functional collaboration, build scalable systems, and manage complex portfolios across development and communications. Experience fundraising within both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) environments is required.  Experience fundraising with democracy organizations and/or political initiatives is preferred. 

Please apply via this form.

Requirements

Responsibilities
Donor Recruitment, Management, and Communications (40%)

• Lead an integrated strategy for donor recruitment, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship across individual, institutional, and corporate funders for NAL/AF.
• Steward of the organization’s external narrative, ensuring fundraising, communications, and stakeholder engagement consistently reflect the organization’s mission, values, and impact.
• Identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward relationships with current and prospective individual donors, donor advisors, corporate supporters, and foundations from various geographies and sectors.
• Oversee development of core storytelling and fundraising assets, including case statements, donor communications, campaign messaging, and institutional materials.
• Oversee proposal development, grant submissions, reporting, and stewardship processes.
  Establish standards for and serve as the ultimate steward for brand voice, message discipline, and consistency across fundraising and communications channels.
• Partner with the CEO, COO, CPO, and the senior program team to align messaging with organizational strategy and political context.
• Manage and support development and communications staff and consultants, setting clear roles, workflows, and decision-making authority, including providing executive oversight for high-stakes and rapid response communications.

Strategy, Execution, and Leadership (35%)

• Design and lead a multi-year fundraising and communications strategy that supports the long-term sustainability of NAL/AF at both the national level and for NAL/AF’s priority states.
• Set annual revenue goals and performance benchmarks; monitor progress and adjust strategy based on data, risk, and opportunity.
• Serve as a member of the executive leadership team, contributing to organizational strategy, culture, and performance management.
• Partner with the CEO and executive team to align fundraising, communications, and stakeholder engagement with organizational priorities and compliance requirements.
• Continuously evaluate and innovate fundraising and communications strategies and tactics, and lead strategic initiatives.
• Work across the organization to enhance data management, messaging, and metrics to strengthen fundraising and translate complex programmatic work into winning investment appeals.
• Collaborate with the Finance Team to complete grant budgets and reports, track revenue progress, and ensure consistency between grant budgets, program requirements, and resource allocation.
• Orient and engage Board members on the development strategy, and steward them to be active fundraisers who meet fundraising goals.
• Participate in the Senior Staff team and contribute to the organization’s overall planning and strategy.

People & Culture (15%)

• Build and lead high-performing development and communications teams, including staff and consultants.
• Establish clear systems, workflows, and expectations that support collaboration, accountability, and growth.
• Champion an organization-wide approach to advancement, breaking down silos between programs, development, and communications to ensure every staff member understands their role.
• Model inclusive, mission-aligned leadership and support professional development.
• Cultivate an organizational culture of philanthropy and empower all staff to envision themselves as fundraisers.
• Contribute to efforts to raise NAL/AF’s national profile through branding efforts, website features and improvements, and storybanking.

Board Engagement (10%)

• Partner with the CEO to cultivate strong board engagement in fundraising and external relations.
• Staff and support the Development Committee and align board fundraising efforts with organizational goals.
• Provide clear, regular updates to the Board of Directors on fundraising performance, trends, and risks.
• Strengthen board confidence and effectiveness in philanthropic conversations.

Qualifications & Skills 

• Strong alignment with NAL/AF’s mission and values, including a commitment to serving immigrant communities and building a multiracial democracy; demonstrated cultural awareness and sensitivity to the experiences of immigrants, refugees, and undocumented and under-documented communities.
• 8+ years of senior-level experience across advancement, fundraising, or external affairs, with demonstrated success in securing support from foundations, institutional partners, and individual donors; pre-existing foundation relationships strongly preferred.
• Experience fundraising within or alongside both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations, with familiarity in navigating the democracy space and compliance considerations.
• Proven track record as a transformative manager, with a dedicated focus on coaching, professional development, and building high-retention teams that thrive in fast-paced, mission-driven environments.
• Demonstrated leadership, coaching, and relationship-management experience, including managing funder relationships and overseeing media or external communications.
• Proven ability to steward organizational narrative, brand, and messaging, translating impact into compelling stories that inspire investment and engagement.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to build trusted relationships with board members, senior leaders, funders, media, and community stakeholders.
• Strategic and analytical thinker capable of setting direction, managing complexity, and driving results through systems and teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing teams, consultants, or cross-functional partners, with the ability to set clear expectations and drive accountability.
• Growth-oriented, adaptable leader with the flexibility to operate in a fast-paced, evolving environment and willingness to travel as needed.

We recognize that it is highly unlikely that an application meets 100% of the qualifications for the position. Therefore, if much of this job description describes you, you are highly encouraged to apply.